Business Internships for High School Students in 2026
TL;DR
You'll find 45 currently active business internships on this page, grouped by who runs them: corporate employers, media and arts institutions, nonprofits, universities, and state or regional workforce programs. The thing that will rule you out fastest is not your grades. It's geography. Roughly a third of these are open only to residents of one city or county, and a handful only to students at one named partner school, so read the eligibility line before you read anything else. Pay runs from nothing at the museum and civic programs up to $26 an hour at Microsoft, while several of the university options run the other way and charge four figures in tuition. If you want something you can do from anywhere, without a residency rule or a commute, Ladder Internships places high schoolers remotely with startups on a real eight-week project.
Business internships for high school students cover more ground than the label suggests: paid corporate placements at Fortune 500 companies, museum and media internships that run on real budgets and real marketing plans, and dozens of state and regional workforce programs that place students with local employers. Below are 45 currently active programs, grouped by who runs them. Each entry lists what the program pays, who can apply, and when, because eligibility here is often narrower than the program name implies.
A corporate program, a university course, or a local placement: which one can you actually get?
These three groups want different things from you and give different things back. The deciding factors are usually where you live, whether you need to earn money this summer, and how far in advance you are reading this.
A corporate program pays the most and rules out the most people: KPMG, Microsoft, Capital One and Genesys Works all pay real wages, between roughly $15 and $26 an hour, but each is tied to specific metro areas, and Capital One's Cafe Ambassador role is open only to students at its named partner high schools. If you are 14 or 15, note that federal law limits the hours and occupations open to you, which is part of why these programs set their floor at 16. These are also the earliest deadlines on the page, often closing in January for a June start.
A university program charges you instead of paying you: Wharton's on-campus institutes, Babson Summer Study at $5,995, and the three-week University of Chicago medicine-adjacent tracks are academic courses, not placements. You get faculty teaching, a campus, and sometimes real college credit. You do not get a manager who can describe your work in a letter, which is the thing a placement gives you and a course cannot.
A local workforce program is the one most students overlook: Twenty of the 45 entries below are state or regional pipelines like ReadyCT, WV Ready, Project Iowa YouthWorks and Kirkwood's Workplace Learning Connection. They are rarely advertised nationally, they usually pay, and the competition is a fraction of what a Fortune 500 program attracts. Many are funded through the federal WIOA youth formula program, which is why they cluster by state. Start with your own district's career and technical education office before you start with a national brand.
Marketing, finance, or general business: does picking a field matter yet?
Search interest splits fairly evenly between marketing, finance and general business internships, and students often assume they have to choose before applying. At 16, in most cases, you do not.
Most programs on this page do not ask you to specialise: The corporate and workforce placements assign you to a department based on their needs and your availability, not a stated preference. Genesys Works, ReadyCT and the city programs all work this way.
Where the field really is the program, we have split it out: Finance and entrepreneurship have enough distinct supply to warrant their own pages, so accounting, banking, investment and quantitative programs live on our finance internships page, and venture-building, pitch competitions and startup accelerators live on our entrepreneurship programs page. If you already know which of those you want, start there instead.
Picking too early costs you options: A student set on marketing rules out the Fairfax capital programs track, the Smithsonian communications role and half the workforce pipelines, none of which are labelled marketing but all of which involve it. Apply broadly at this stage and specialise once you have seen the inside of an organisation.
Should you take a paid or an unpaid business internship?
Roughly half the programs below pay a wage, a handful charge tuition, and several of the museum, civic and nonprofit entries offer neither. Which one is right depends on what you are short of, money or access.
It is worth knowing that this is a legal question as well as a practical one. The US Department of Labor applies a primary beneficiary test to decide whether an intern at a for-profit company counts as an employee who must be paid. Unpaid internships at government agencies and nonprofit charities are treated differently and are generally permitted, which is exactly why The Met, the US Treasury and CITYarts can run genuine unpaid programs while a for-profit company usually cannot.
| Factor | Paid corporate and workforce programs | Unpaid and tuition-based programs |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | An hourly wage, roughly $15 to $26, plus a manager who can write about your work | Structured teaching, institutional access, sometimes college credit |
| Who runs them | Companies, city and state agencies, employer partnerships | Museums, nonprofits, federal policy offices, universities |
| Typical gatekeeping | Residency, age 16 or over, work authorization, often household income | Application essays, GPA, ability to pay or to win aid |
| Time commitment | Real working hours, often 20 to 40 a week for 6 to 10 weeks | Short and intensive, commonly 3 days to 3 weeks |
| Best when | You need income and a workplace reference | You need subject exposure or a transcript credential |
Unpaid does not mean unserious: The Metropolitan Museum of Art places students across roughly 17 departments including development and marketing, and the US Treasury puts them inside Departmental Offices in Washington. Both are competitive. Neither pays much or at all.
Watch for pay that is simply not published: Several entries below, including the Greater Cheyenne Chamber's VENTURE initiative and the Fairfax ERFC track, do not state a rate anywhere. Ask before you commit your summer.
Can a business internship help with your college applications?
It gives you something specific to write about: An essay built on a real project, a real deadline and a real manager reads differently from an essay about a general interest in business. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks how few 16 to 19 year olds hold any job at all in a given summer, which is part of why a documented placement stands out.
It can produce a recommender who is not a teacher: Ladder Internships reports, from a survey of 85 of its own alumni who applied in the 2024-25 cycle, that 64 percent had a manager write a recommendation letter, 66 percent listed the experience in the activities section, and 50 percent wrote about it in their main college essay.
Treat outcome statistics carefully, including ours: The same survey reports that 14.29 percent of those 85 alumni were admitted to an Ivy League or top 20 university, which Ladder describes as 1.66 times the general rate at those schools. That is a self-reported figure from one program's own alumni at n=85, not an independent study. Read the full admissions report for the breakdown.
How we selected these programs
Every program here was checked against its own official page rather than a third-party summary, and anything we could not confirm is marked as an estimate. We weighed four things:
Verification against the official source: Cost, dates, eligibility and deadlines come from the program's own site. Where a figure is not published, we say so rather than filling the gap.
What you actually do: Placements that put you on a project, in an office, or in front of customers rank above programs that stop at lectures and a certificate.
Cost and access: The full price, any wage or stipend, and whether need-based aid or fee waivers exist, since several of the strongest options here cost nothing and pay well.
Who can realistically apply: Age floors, residency limits and partner-school restrictions are stated up front, because many business programs are open only to students in one county, district, or named school.
| Section | Top programs | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate and major employer programs | KPMG Empower, Genesys Works, Microsoft Discovery | Paid, roughly $15 to $26 an hour | Students near a major employer who want a recognised name and a wage |
| Media, arts and communications | The Met, Paley Center Hearst, Smithsonian SSEC | Free to $16.50 an hour, several unpaid | Students drawn to marketing, communications or arts administration |
| Nonprofit and civic leadership | Youth Philanthropy Initiative, Cohen Institute, JA Titan | Free, occasionally with a grant attached | Students interested in the civic and social side of business |
| University-backed business programs | Wharton LBW, Babson Summer Study, WVU Young Innovators | Free to $9,540 in tuition | Families able to invest in a campus credential rather than earn a wage |
| Statewide and regional workforce programs | ReadyCT, Project Iowa YouthWorks, WV Ready | Mostly paid, rates set by the host employer | Students whose own state runs a placement pipeline they can join locally |
Corporate and Major Firm Programs
1. KP LAUNCH High School Internship, Kaiser Permanente
Location: Kaiser Permanente sites, Northern California only
Cost/Stipend: Paid, an estimated $15-24/hour depending on city and track; the exact rate is not stated on the official application page
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not publicly disclosed
Dates: Summer 2027 program: June 14 through July 30
Application deadline: Opens November 16, 2026, closes January 8, 2027
Eligibility: Ages 16-19 by June 1, 2027; permanent Northern California residents; not a dependent of a KP employee or physician; a work permit is required if selected
Kaiser Permanente's KP LAUNCH is a paid summer internship for Northern California high schoolers exploring healthcare-adjacent careers. Alongside its clinical tracks, it runs a genuine business, finance, HR, and administrative track covering the operational side of running a major health system.
Who it's best for: Northern California students who want exposure to how a large healthcare organization actually runs its business, not just its clinics.
2. Genesys Works
Location: National nonprofit with local chapters in Chicago, Houston, Jacksonville, the Twin Cities, Nashville, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area
Cost/Stipend: Paid, $11,000-$16,000 for the year-long internship, 15-20 hours a week
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 300+ corporate partners, 3,700+ internships nationally; 11,000+ students served since 2002
Dates: An 8-week summer training before senior year, then a year-long paid internship during senior year, part-time afternoons
Application deadline: Recruited during junior year
Eligibility: High school juniors entering senior year, from underserved communities and schools, with a low-income and first-generation-college focus
Genesys Works is a national nonprofit, founded in 2002 and expanding fast, that recruits high school juniors from underserved communities, trains them over an intensive eight-week summer in business technology and professional skills, then places them in a paid, year-long corporate internship at companies like JPMorgan Chase, Target, and 3M during senior year. Ninety percent of graduates enroll in college, compared with 52% of their peers. Current chapter listings don't include Tulsa, despite "Genesys Works Tulsa" appearing in older material, so check directly if you're in that area.
Who it's best for: Juniors from underserved communities who want a genuine multi-year pipeline into a Fortune 500 internship, not a single summer.
3. KPMG U.S. Empower High School Experience
Location: 11 US markets
Cost/Stipend: Paid, $20-25/hour, plus clothing and transportation stipends and meals
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 200 students nationally, 18-20 per market cohort
Dates: 3 weeks, in summer
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors from diverse backgrounds
KPMG's U.S. Empower High School Experience is a paid, three-week summer internship introducing juniors and seniors from diverse backgrounds to public accounting and professional services, with case studies, KPMG mentorship, and a business-etiquette class. Note that this is distinct from KPMG's separately-named Future Leaders Program, which is actually a $10,000-a-year college scholarship for female seniors, not an internship. Don't conflate the two.
Who it's best for: Students specifically curious about public accounting and professional services, who want KPMG's name and mentorship without a full-year commitment.
4. INROADS
Location: National, at corporate partner sites
Cost/Stipend: The college track is paid, placing students with 60+ Fortune 500 companies; the high school track, called College Links, is a career-readiness program rather than a direct paid placement
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Varies
Application deadline: Separate applications for College Links (high school) and the paid Internship Program (college)
Eligibility: INROADS splits by age: high schoolers access College Links; the paid corporate internships are mainly for college students
INROADS connects underrepresented students to paid corporate internships across 60-plus Fortune 500 partner companies, alongside career-readiness coaching, resume and interview prep, and long-term mentorship. Its structure splits sharply by age: high schoolers primarily access College Links, a career-readiness and college-prep track, while the direct paid internship placements at companies like JPMorgan Chase and Zoetis are mainly reserved for college students. Confirm which specific track a prospective high schooler actually qualifies for before expecting a paid corporate placement.
Who it's best for: High schoolers who want to build the college-prep foundation now that leads into INROADS' paid corporate internships once they reach college.
5. Warner Bros. Discovery Reach Honorship Program, Business Track
Location: Burbank, CA and LA County; the national Hanna-Barbera Animation track is open nationwide
Cost/Stipend: A $5,000 scholarship plus four consecutive paid summer internships, though the paid work happens during college, not high school
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 5-6 recipients a year
Dates: Internships run each summer during college, four consecutive summers, starting the summer after high school graduation
Application deadline: Students apply as graduating seniors, typically by late January
Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors in Burbank and LA County, or nationwide for the Hanna-Barbera Animation track; 3.0 GPA minimum maintained through college
Warner Bros.' Reach Honorship, running since 2005, awards five or six graduating high school seniors a $5,000 scholarship plus four consecutive paid summer internships at Warner Bros. Discovery studios. The catch is timing: students apply as high school seniors, but none of the actual paid studio work happens until the summer after graduation, continuing through college.
Who it's best for: Graduating seniors headed to college who want a guaranteed studio internship locked in before they even start their freshman year.
6. Microsoft Discovery Program
Location: Redmond, WA, with a separate cohort in Atlanta, GA
Cost/Stipend: Paid, $26/hour
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; applicants must be a member of a Microsoft-sponsored organization or have completed pre-calculus or three years of math
Dates: 4 weeks, in summer
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors headed to college; must live or attend high school within 50 miles of Redmond, or be part of the separate Atlanta cohort
Microsoft's Discovery Program is a paid, four-week summer program for graduating seniors headed to college, run at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters plus a newer Atlanta cohort. The curriculum is core computer science and programming rather than business, so it earns a place on this list for its pay and corporate access rather than its subject matter. Eligibility is geographically narrow despite Microsoft's global scale.
Who it's best for: Students near Redmond or Atlanta who want Microsoft on a resume and don't mind that the actual work is coding, not business.
7. Capital One Student Cafe Ambassador Intern
Location: Select Capital One Cafe locations, including New York City, Richmond, VA, Washington, DC, Dallas, and Houston
Cost/Stipend: Paid; one Bronx, NY posting cited a $52,416 annualized rate, prorated for part-time hours
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small, per-cafe cohorts
Dates: A 2-week training in August, then ongoing part-time work through senior year
Application deadline: Rolling, per posting
Eligibility: Restricted to students enrolled in specific named partner high schools per location, such as Theodore Roosevelt Campus in the Bronx or CodeRVA Regional High School in Richmond, not open to any high schooler generally; must be 16 or older with a work permit
Capital One's Student Cafe Ambassador Intern program hires current high schoolers at select Capital One Cafe branches for customer-facing roles teaching visitors about banking products and digital tools, earning real wages. The catch is that eligibility is tied to specific partner high schools per location, rather than being open to any nearby student.
Who it's best for: Students at one of Capital One's specific named partner high schools who want ongoing, real part-time pay through senior year.
8. Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Program at JPMorgan Chase
Location: New York City, at 12 participating colleges including Barnard, Baruch, Columbia, Fordham, and NYU
Cost/Stipend: A full 4-year tuition scholarship plus a $500-a-year books and supplies stipend, and paid rotational internships throughout college; the pay begins once in college, not during high school
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 10 students a year
Dates: 4 years, throughout college
Application deadline: Typically January
Eligibility: Graduating NYC high school seniors and residents, accepted to one of the 12 participating colleges; top 15% class rank required per some sources; life science and fine arts majors excluded
The Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Program, established in 1992 by former Chase Manhattan CEO Thomas Labrecque, awards about 10 NYC public high school seniors a year a full four-year tuition scholarship to one of 12 partner NYC colleges, plus a paid, rotational internship at JPMorgan Chase throughout college. As with Warner Bros.' Reach Honorship, students apply as high school seniors, but the actual paid work at JPMorgan doesn't start until college.
Who it's best for: NYC seniors who want their entire college finance and career path largely settled before senior year even ends.
9. C Spire Liftoff, Business Track
Location: C Spire headquarters, Ridgeland, MS
Cost/Stipend: Unpaid; described by C Spire as a job-shadowing and professional-networking opportunity
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Capped at 10 students for the inaugural 2025 cohort
Dates: Very short, described as lasting just a few hours, hosted during part of a fall semester
Application deadline: 2026 cycle runs April 1 through September 1
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors, public or private school in the Jackson, MS metro area, 3.5+ GPA, a letter of recommendation, and a 500-750 word essay
C Spire, a Mississippi-based telecom and tech company, launched its first-ever externship program, Liftoff, in 2025 for Jackson-metro juniors and seniors. Students choose among three tracks, Business, Technical, or Creative, for a brief, unpaid job-shadowing and networking experience at C Spire's headquarters. It's a much shorter, lighter-weight format than a typical multi-week internship in this hub.
Who it's best for: High-achieving Jackson-metro students who want a quick, low-commitment glimpse inside a real company rather than a summer-long placement.
Media, Arts and Communications
10. Smithsonian Science Education Center Internship Program
Location: Washington, DC; some tracks may offer virtual options
Cost/Stipend: Varies by specific track; some tracks include a stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Fall, spring, and summer cycles offered
Application deadline: Apply through the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment System
Eligibility: High school students 16 or older, undergraduate, or graduate students; a federal background check is required for all tracks
The Smithsonian Science Education Center runs an internship program alongside its STEM-education mission, with tracks spanning communications and marketing, education, and administrative roles, not just science research. The communications and marketing track specifically, listed separately below, is the clearest business fit; other tracks lean more toward STEM and education, so check which track a posting belongs to before applying.
Who it's best for: Students who want the Smithsonian name but haven't yet decided between a communications role and a more STEM-focused one.
11. The Met Summer High School Internships
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Paid stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed; highly selective
Dates: Summer, several weeks, exact dates vary by cycle
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: NYC-area high school students; application required
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's High School Internship Program places NYC-area students across roughly 17 departments, including development and fundraising, design, marketing, and administration, not just curatorial or conservation work. It's a prestigious, highly selective program at a world-class institution, giving students real exposure to how a major nonprofit arts organization runs its business side alongside its artistic mission.
Who it's best for: NYC students who want to see the fundraising and marketing side of a world-class museum, not just its galleries.
12. Communications & Marketing Intern, Smithsonian Science Education Center
Location: Washington, DC; virtual options may be available
Cost/Stipend: May include a stipend for high schoolers, varies by cycle
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Fall, spring, and summer cycles
Application deadline: Apply through the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment System
Eligibility: High school students 16 or older, undergraduate, or graduate students; a federal background check is required
This is the specific marketing and communications track within SSEC's broader internship program. Interns work directly with SSEC's Marketing and Communications team on real deliverables, including social media content creation, campaign brainstorming, communications strategy, and brand asset management, for the Center's K-12 STEM education mission. It's a genuine marketing and communications role at a globally recognized institution, distinct from SSEC's other tracks that lean more toward STEM and education.
Who it's best for: Students who specifically want marketing and communications work, and have already ruled out SSEC's more STEM-focused tracks.
13. The Paley Center for Media, Hearst High School Media Internship
Location: New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Paid, $16.50/hour plus MetroCards
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 15 students a year
Dates: 5 weeks, in summer
Application deadline: Late March or early April; the 2026 cycle closed March 30
Eligibility: Rising 11th and 12th graders; must be able to work legally in the US and hold valid state working papers
Launched in 2024 through a Hearst Foundations endowment grant, the Paley Center's Hearst High School Media Internship is a paid, five-week summer program for 15 NYC-area rising juniors and seniors interested in media careers. Students work through media literacy training using the Paley Archive's television collection, career-development sessions, and mentorship, culminating in a self-produced podcast.
Who it's best for: NYC-area students set on media careers who want real archive access and a finished, self-produced podcast to show for the summer.
14. CITYarts PR & Marketing Internship
Location: New York, NY; some sources describe a virtual or flexible option too
Cost/Stipend: Unpaid; CITYarts states plainly that this specific role is unpaid, even though its general internships page mentions stipends for some other roles
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Flexible schedule, about 15-20 hours a week during business hours
Application deadline: Rolling; apply by email with a cover letter and resume
Eligibility: High school students in NYC are strongly encouraged to apply, though the role is open to others too
CITYarts, a NYC nonprofit that creates public murals and mosaics through youth-artist collaboration, offers an unpaid PR and marketing internship, alongside separate design and projects tracks. Interns design promotional materials, manage CITYarts' social media and website, and help organize community outreach on flexible hours.
Who it's best for: Students who want genuine marketing experience tied to public art specifically, and don't need the internship to be paid.
15. Mississippi Public Broadcasting Student Council
Location: Statewide Mississippi
Cost/Stipend: Unpaid; community service hours are earned instead
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 8 students statewide in the inaugural cohort
Dates: A 1-year term beginning each September, renewable
Application deadline: Annual; applications typically open in August
Eligibility: Mississippi students in grades 8-12
Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Student Council selects eight middle and high schoolers statewide each year for a renewable, unpaid one-year term as youth advisors and liaisons for the state's PBS and NPR affiliate, including producing an actual MPB Student Council Podcast. The content here is civic engagement, leadership, and media literacy rather than business specifically, a lighter fit for this hub, included mainly for the genuine media-production and public-speaking experience it offers.
Who it's best for: Mississippi students who want real, statewide public-media production experience and don't need it to be paid or business-specific.
Nonprofit and civic leadership
16. Cohen Institute's High School Summer Leadership Program
Location: University of Maine, Orono, ME, residential
Cost/Stipend: Free, fully funded including tuition, room, and board
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 50 students a year, grown from an inaugural 20-student cohort in 2019
Dates: 1 week, mid-June
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors; selective, with at least one student guaranteed from each of Maine's 16 counties
The University of Maine's Cohen Institute runs a free, week-long residential program featuring talks from high-profile guests like former Defense Secretary William Cohen and Senator Susan Collins, plus outdoor team-building, and students complete a college-level leadership course for credit. The training is public service and leadership rather than business specifically.
Who it's best for: Maine seniors interested in public service and leadership generally, not specifically business, who want a fully funded residential week.
17. Bella Abzug Leadership Institute Virtual After-School Program
Location: Virtual, open to all 5 NYC boroughs
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Year-long, weekly virtual meetings
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: NYC public high school students ages 13-18, especially female-identifying or gender-expansive students at Title I or low-income schools
The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute runs a free, year-long virtual after-school program for NYC public high schoolers, especially those who identify as female or gender-expansive at Title I schools. The core curriculum is leadership and debate training, not business specifically, though BALI separately runs a narrower Millie King Entrepreneurship Summer Program, a 4-day social-entrepreneurship intensive that's a closer business fit.
Who it's best for: NYC students, especially young women, who want a genuine year-long leadership and debate program with zero cost and full flexibility from home.
18. JA Titan Challenge
Location: Delivered through local Junior Achievement chapters nationwide, in classrooms, remote-live, or after-school
Cost/Stipend: Free, volunteer and educator-led; scholarship prizes for top teams at local competitions
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Varies by local JA chapter
Dates: An 11-session blended model, with a minimum of 5 sessions completed; live competition events are scheduled locally
Application deadline: Varies by local JA chapter or school enrollment
Eligibility: Grades 9-12, delivered through participating schools and classrooms
Junior Achievement's Titan Challenge is a free, classroom-based business simulation, not a workplace internship, where teams of students run a virtual phone company, making pricing, production, marketing, and R&D decisions across 11 structured sessions. It culminates in local, and sometimes national, competitions for scholarship prizes, delivered through local JA chapters and volunteer business professionals nationwide.
Who it's best for: Students whose school already runs Junior Achievement programming and want a real, if simulated, taste of running an entire company's strategy.
19. North Dakota Leadership Seminar
Location: University of Jamestown, ND, residential
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: 3 days, residential, in spring
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: High school sophomores specifically
Running since 1981, the North Dakota Leadership Seminar is a free, three-day residential leadership program for high school sophomores at the University of Jamestown, where more than 100 of the state's top student leaders gather each spring. The curriculum is general leadership and community-service skills rather than business-specific content.
Who it's best for: North Dakota sophomores specifically (this program doesn't accept other grades) who want a free, prestigious leadership credential rather than business content.
20. Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Oklahoma
Location: Tulsa, OK area, hosted at the University of Oklahoma-Schusterman Center
Cost/Stipend: Free, funded by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 25 students per cohort
Dates: A 3-year program, monthly all-day meetings
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Tulsa-area high school students, public, private, or homeschool
Launched in 2005, Tulsa's Youth Philanthropy Initiative is a free, intensive three-year program for about 25 Tulsa-area high schoolers per cohort. Students learn nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship alongside philanthropy and leadership, culminating in designing and implementing a real intervention, backed by an actual $30,000 grant the cohort controls, addressing a teen issue they've identified in their own community.
Who it's best for: Tulsa-area students willing to commit three years for the chance to actually direct a real $30,000 grant toward a cause they choose.
University-backed Business Programs
21. Wharton Leadership in the Business World
Location: On campus at the Wharton School, Philadelphia, PA
Cost/Stipend: Paid tuition; financial aid available through Wharton's general aid program
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; not disclosed
Dates: Multiple 3-week sessions across summer
Application deadline: Varies by session; check Wharton's Application Information page each cycle
Eligibility: Current high school juniors (rising seniors); 3.5+ unweighted GPA preferred
Wharton's Leadership in the Business World is one of several Wharton Global Youth Program pre-college offerings at the University of Pennsylvania, aimed at rising seniors with a strong academic record. It focuses specifically on leadership skills within a business context, distinct from Wharton's separate Investment Competition and Financial Decision Making offerings.
Who it's best for: Rising seniors specifically interested in leadership development within business, rather than investing or general business exposure.
22. Wharton Global Youth Program: Future of the Business World
Location: Fully online
Cost/Stipend: Paid tuition, roughly $4,099 plus an application fee; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Multiple 2-week online sessions across summer
Application deadline: Varies by session
Eligibility: Grades 9-12
Future of the Business World is one of Wharton's Global Youth Program pre-college offerings, open to grades 9 through 12, a broader grade range than most other Wharton Global Youth programs, which tend to target juniors and seniors specifically. It's part of the same University of Pennsylvania hub that runs the Investment Competition and Leadership in the Business World.
Who it's best for: Younger high schoolers (freshmen and sophomores included) who want an early, general introduction to Wharton's business content.
23. Wharton Management & Technology Summer Institute
Location: On campus at the Wharton School and Penn Engineering, Philadelphia, PA
Cost/Stipend: Paid tuition, roughly $9,000; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: A 3-week on-campus session, typically late June through late July
Application deadline: Check Wharton's On-Campus Application Information page each cycle
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors; 3.5+ unweighted GPA preferred
Wharton's Management & Technology Summer Institute is a cross-disciplinary program combining business management with engineering and technology content. It's a genuine business-curriculum program despite the tech component, distinct from purely technical programs elsewhere that carry no business content at all.
Who it's best for: Students who want business and engineering combined in one program, rather than picking one or the other.
24. Babson Summer Study for High School Students
Location: Online, or in-person at New England Innovation Academy, Marlborough, MA
Cost/Stipend: $5,995 plus a non-refundable $95 application fee; limited need-based financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: 3+ weeks
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors, at least 15 by program start; English proficiency required
Babson Summer Study is a for-credit, three-plus-week entrepreneurship program at Babson College, ranked first for entrepreneurship education for decades, offered online or in-person. Students earn 4 real Babson College credits taking an actual Babson course, Introduction to the Entrepreneurial Experience, exploring social, economic, and environmental challenges through Babson's trademarked Entrepreneurial Thought & Action method. This is a genuine financial commitment, not a free program.
Who it's best for: Families able to pay for a real Babson course and credit, specifically for students set on entrepreneurship rather than general business.
25. West Virginia University Young Innovators
Location: 16+ participating middle and high schools across West Virginia; the culminating Summit is held at Stonewall Resort, Summersville, WV
Cost/Stipend: Free; the Summit is all-expenses-paid, with competitive project funding up to $2,500-$3,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 147 students at 13 schools in 9 counties in the 2025-26 year; expanding toward 15,000 students over 3 years through a new STEAM Innovation Alliance
Dates: A school-year program; the Summit is a 3-day, 2-night event
Application deadline: School-based enrollment; schools not yet participating can express interest
Eligibility: Middle and high school students at participating West Virginia schools only, not open to any WV student individually; no prior business experience required
WVU Extension's Young Innovators program, launched in 2025, pairs students at participating West Virginia schools with teachers and community mentors to develop real entrepreneurship and community-impact projects over the school year, culminating at the Young Innovators Summit, where teams pitch for real funding. It's expanding fast, but is only available at participating WV schools.
Who it's best for: Students already at a participating WV school who want a real shot at project funding without needing prior business experience.
Statewide and regional workforce programs
This is the largest and most varied section on this page: small nonprofits, chambers of commerce, community colleges, school-district CTE partnerships, and a few private companies, each running their own local internship pipeline. There's no single subject vertical connecting them beyond geography and scale, so they're grouped here as a deliberate catch-all rather than forced into artificial subcategories.
26. Building-U High School Internship
Location: Fully remote/online, open globally
Cost/Stipend: Free; this is unpaid, students intern for Building-U rather than being paid by it
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not publicly disclosed; informal, email-based application process
Dates: 3+ months, year-round, rolling start
Application deadline: Rolling; apply by email
Eligibility: Currently enrolled high school students, grades 9-12, from anywhere in the world
Building-U is primarily a free resource directory cataloging hundreds of other organizations' programs for students, but it also runs its own internal internship, open to any high schooler worldwide, with a genuine Business and Development team handling partnerships and funding streams alongside other student-led teams. It's informal and niche compared to most entries in this hub, run by a small student-led organization rather than an established institution.
Who it's best for: International students, or anyone outside the US, who want genuine remote business-development experience without needing to be in a specific country.
27. EnergyMag Internships
Location: Fully virtual/remote
Cost/Stipend: Unpaid; EnergyMag states plainly that it is not a for-profit institution and internships are unpaid
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed; a very small operation with a limited number of slots
Dates: Half-time track: 2-8 weeks in summer at about 20 hours a week; quarter-time track: 1-9 months year-round at about 8 hours a week
Application deadline: Rolling, no fixed deadline
Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, or seniors only, not freshmen; one honors science or English class preferred; GPA over 3.25; a writing sample and interview are required
EnergyMag is a small, single-page blog about energy storage and markets, run by very few people, but its internship tasks students with real market, company, and technology research and analysis, a legitimate business-research skill despite the tiny scale of the organization.
Who it's best for: Strong writers interested in the energy sector who want genuine research and analysis experience, even from a very small organization.
28. U.S. Department of State Pathways Internship Program
Location: Domestic Civil Service positions across the US; embassy and consulate placements are a separate State Department program
Cost/Stipend: Paid via the federal GS pay scale, GS-1 through GS-11 depending on education level; GS-1 is explicitly open to students enrolled in high school or a GED program
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed; each posting has its own application cap
Dates: Non-temporary positions last the length of the academic program; temporary positions run up to a year or graduation, extendable in one-year increments
Application deadline: No fixed cycle; vacancies post year-round on USAJobs.gov
Eligibility: US citizens, 16 or older by the closing date, 2.0 GPA minimum maintained throughout, subject to drug testing, may require security-clearance eligibility, currently enrolled in high school, GED program, or college depending on the position
The State Department's Pathways Internship Program opens paid, GS-1 level federal internship positions to current high schoolers, unlike several other federal "internship" programs that turn out to be college-only despite similar branding. It's distinct from the State Department's separate Student Internship Program, which is college and grad students only with embassy placements, so confirm which program a specific posting belongs to before applying.
Who it's best for: Students who want genuine federal government experience and a real GS paycheck, and are prepared for a background check and possible security-clearance process.
29. St. Louis Park Youth Data Analyst Internship Program
Location: St. Louis Park, MN, at the school district office
Cost/Stipend: Paid, 7-week summer position
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 4-5 interns a year
Dates: 7 weeks, starting late June
Application deadline: Applications due mid-to-late May
Eligibility: Must be at least 14, enrolled at St. Louis Park High School
This internship's framing is education-equity research, analyzing district data through lenses of race, critical theory, and the opportunity gap, rather than a general business-analytics role. The data-analysis skillset is real, built on Excel and database platforms, but the subject matter is education policy rather than commercial business.
Who it's best for: St. Louis Park students interested in data analysis specifically applied to education equity and policy, not general business analytics.
30. Idaho Youth Ranch YouthWorks! Program
Location: Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store locations statewide
Cost/Stipend: Paid retail employment
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Ongoing and rolling, not a fixed-session program
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: At-risk and interested Idaho teens; specific age minimum not confirmed
Idaho Youth Ranch's YouthWorks! program places teens in real retail jobs at the nonprofit's network of thrift stores across Idaho, covering inventory management, merchandising, point-of-sale operations, and customer service. It's structured more like a supported employment and workforce-readiness program than a formal internship cohort with a fixed curriculum.
Who it's best for: Idaho teens who want ongoing, real retail-operations work experience rather than a structured summer cohort.
31. PENCIL Internship Program
Location: New York City
Cost/Stipend: Paid, New York State minimum wage or higher, for a minimum of 150 hours
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 12,649 students served across all PENCIL programs in the 2024-25 school year; 50,000+ served since 1995
Dates: 6 weeks in July and August, preceded by mandatory pre-employment training from January through April
Application deadline: Early January
Eligibility: NYC residents, ages 16-24, currently enrolled in high school or college, legally authorized to work in the US
PENCIL, a NYC nonprofit connecting business and education since 1995, is the delivery provider for the city's Ladders for Leaders program, a paid, six-week summer internship across finance, hospitality, fashion, marketing, and advertising placements. One note: there's an unrelated, differently-run program with the same "Ladders for Leaders" name in Round Rock, TX, a completely different organization.
Who it's best for: NYC students willing to complete real pre-employment training months in advance, in exchange for an unusually broad range of placement industries.
32. Brooklyn Navy Yard Internship Programs
Location: Brooklyn Navy Yard, NYC
Cost/Stipend: Paid, $17/hour, for a 40-hour work week
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: 8 weeks, offered in spring, summer, and fall sessions
Application deadline: Rolling; the 2026 cycle deadline was February 28
Eligibility: Restricted to college-attending students and college-bound high school seniors specifically, not open to juniors or sophomores
The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation runs paid, eight-week internships placing college-attending students and college-bound seniors with Yard-based businesses spanning manufacturing, culinary, media, engineering, and technology.
Who it's best for: College-bound seniors specifically (this program is closed to younger students) who want real pay at a working industrial site in Brooklyn.
33. Nissan JPS Career Development Center High School Intern Program
Location: Jackson, MS, at the Jackson Public Schools Career Development Center
Cost/Stipend: Leads to a paid job offer on completion, $22-26/hour, rising to as much as $36/hour within three years
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: A spring-semester internship for students already two or more years into their CDC CTE program
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Students already enrolled in the CDC's Career and Technical Education program
Jackson Public Schools' Career Development Center, in partnership with Nissan North America, runs a spring internship primarily focused on skilled trades such as welding, automotive services, and mechanical and hydraulic systems repair. It does include entrepreneurship exposure and resume-building alongside the technical training, but the business content is secondary to the technical trade focus, and completion can lead to a real, well-paying job offer.
Who it's best for: Students already deep into a skilled-trades CTE track who want the business and entrepreneurship exposure as a bonus, not the main focus.
34. Advanced Composites Institute at Mississippi State University Internships
Location: Starkville, MS, at the Mississippi State University campus
Cost/Stipend: Not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Summer and Fall 2026 cycles currently open
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: High school and undergraduate students
Mississippi State's Advanced Composites Institute offers two internship tracks: Engineering Interns work directly with composites and advanced manufacturing, a STEM-focused track, while Workforce Interns handle business-relevant work, including scheduling and tracking social media and maintaining workforce-engagement spreadsheets. For a business-focused search, the Workforce Intern track is the better fit.
Who it's best for: Students who specifically want the Workforce Intern track's social-media and administrative work, not the Engineering track's materials-science focus.
35. WV Ready Summer Internships
Location: Statewide West Virginia, at various host businesses and agencies
Cost/Stipend: Paid
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 42 interns in a recently cited cohort
Dates: 4 weeks
Application deadline: 2026 cycle applications opened in April
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors, West Virginia residents
WV Ready Summer Internships, run by the nonprofit Education Alliance, is a paid, four-week internship connecting West Virginia juniors and seniors with real host businesses and agencies statewide, including Dow, Toyota, WV American Water, and WVU Medicine. The program culminates in a capstone project presentation.
Who it's best for: West Virginia students who want exposure to major employers like Dow and Toyota without leaving the state.
36. Coal River Group Summer Internship
Location: Tornado, WV, at Coal River Kayak and Canoe Rental
Cost/Stipend: Not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Up to 3 internship slots a summer
Dates: 10 weeks, in summer
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: College or high school graduate students; must be a strong swimmer capable of lifting 40 pounds
Coal River Group runs Coal River Kayak and Canoe Rental in Tornado, WV, offering up to three summer internships each year for students interested in parks and recreation, environmental science, or business. Interns rent boats, manage gear, teach paddling and water-safety lessons, and each develop an individual project tied to their own academic interests, blending genuine outdoor-recreation business operations with watershed conservation work.
Who it's best for: Physically capable students who want an outdoor small-business role rather than an office internship.
37. Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce VENTURE Internship Initiative
Location: Cheyenne, WY and the Front Range
Cost/Stipend: Not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Not disclosed
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Students, with a separate educator-externship component
The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce's VENTURE initiative facilitates student internships and educator externships across the Cheyenne, WY region, aiming to build a skilled local workforce pipeline. Cost, duration, and specific eligibility aren't published beyond the Chamber's own program page, so contact the Chamber directly for those details.
Who it's best for: Cheyenne-area students willing to call the Chamber directly, since the program's specifics aren't published online.
38. Western Wyoming Beverages Brand Activation and Sales Intern
Location: Rock Springs, WY, serving southwest Wyoming
Cost/Stipend: Not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Not disclosed
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Not explicitly stated
Western Wyoming Beverages, a Rock Springs distributor of Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch products since 1970, has posted a real Brand Activation and Sales Intern role. The company's portfolio includes alcohol brands alongside soda, so ask whether the intern role itself involves any alcohol-related duties, which would carry age restrictions.
Who it's best for: Southwest Wyoming students interested in sales and brand marketing, who should confirm the role's duties are not alcohol-related.
39. Tulsa Global Alliance Internships
Location: Tulsa, OK
Cost/Stipend: Unpaid; Tulsa Global Alliance states plainly that it offers unpaid internships
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Not disclosed
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Tulsa-area college and high school students
Tulsa Global Alliance manages Tulsa's Sister City program across 8 sister cities in 6 countries and hosts the US State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program, the only Oklahoma organization to do so. Its unpaid internship covers genuine nonprofit business operations: marketing, communications, event planning, and hosting international delegations.
Who it's best for: Tulsa students interested in international relations and nonprofit operations who don't need the internship to be paid.
40. Butler Machinery Work-Study
Location: Butler Machinery locations across North Dakota and South Dakota
Cost/Stipend: Paid, work-study wage
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not disclosed
Dates: Ongoing during the school year, feeding into the ButlerMAX technician apprenticeship pipeline
Application deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Students 16 or older
Butler Machinery's high school work-study is primarily a diesel-technology and heavy-equipment mechanics program. It does have a business-adjacent Parts Counter and Warehouse track alongside the core Diesel Technology track, involving inventory management, customer service, and retail parts sales, worth specifying if a student wants the business side rather than the mechanical trade.
Who it's best for: ND or SD students who want the Parts Counter and Warehouse track specifically, not the diesel-mechanics track.
41. Future Focused Education's X3 Internships
Location: Statewide New Mexico, urban and rural
Cost/Stipend: Paid; $192,847.50 in wages paid across 165 placements in the most recent full year
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 165 placements across 82 employers in the most recent full year; the healthcare track alone has 65+ internships a year
Dates: Ongoing, school year and summer
Application deadline: Rolling, per school partnership
Eligibility: High school students as young as 10th grade through early college age, especially historically underrepresented and low-income youth
Future Focused Education's X3 program places New Mexico high schoolers, including in rural areas with few internship options, in paid work-based learning placements across healthcare, architecture, agriculture and forestry, and general local business.
Who it's best for: Rural New Mexico students who otherwise have few local internship options, especially those interested in healthcare.
42. ReadyCT Career-Connected Learning Internships
Location: Greater Hartford and statewide Connecticut
Cost/Stipend: Paid; 520 paid internships in the 2024-25 program year
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 2,900+ students in work-based learning experiences; 250+ employer partners; 18 pathways across 12 Greater Hartford high schools, expanding to 27 pathways statewide
Dates: Year-round, combining school-year Career Pathways programming with summer internships
Application deadline: Varies by school and program
Eligibility: CT public high school students, with a focus on low-income and Black and Latine students
ReadyCT, part of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform, places CT public high schoolers in paid internships across business, insurance, IT, and finance sectors through 250-plus employer partnerships, including named sub-programs G.R.I.T. for younger students working on live business projects and F.R.Y.A. for first-responder career paths.
Who it's best for: Connecticut students specifically interested in insurance or finance, given the program's strong employer base in those sectors.
43. JMG Maine Career Exploration Badge
Location: Statewide Maine, at 90 participating high schools
Cost/Stipend: Students receive a $500 academic award on completion; some placements also pay a stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open at all 90 participating JMG high schools
Dates: 40+ hours of work experience, embedded across a school year or quarter
Application deadline: Rolling, school-based
Eligibility: Maine high school juniors and seniors
JMG's Maine Career Exploration Badge is a general work-based learning credential, not business-specific, where students complete 40-plus hours of real employer engagement in any career field of their choosing, from music to cosmetology to welding, earning a $500 academic award. A business placement isn't guaranteed since students self-select their field.
Who it's best for: Maine students who want a guaranteed cash award for completing real work experience, even if they haven't settled on business specifically.
44. Project Iowa YouthWorks
Location: Des Moines, IA, currently at East and North High Schools
Cost/Stipend: Paid; a recent 5-student cohort collectively earned over $32,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small, growing cohorts, 5 students in the 2024 cohort; plans to expand to all 5 Des Moines Public Schools high schools by 2029
Dates: 9 months during the school year, afternoons, full days in summer, starting with 40 hours of pre-internship training
Application deadline: High school juniors apply in spring for the following year
Eligibility: Juniors and seniors at partner Des Moines Public Schools
Billed as the only year-long high school internship program in Central Iowa, Project Iowa's YouthWorks pairs Des Moines Public Schools juniors and seniors with a paid, nine-month internship alongside a classroom curriculum and dedicated mentor.
Who it's best for: Des Moines students at a partner school who want the most sustained, highest-earning internship on this entire list relative to its length.
45. Kirkwood Community College Internships, Workplace Learning Connection
Location: A 7-county Eastern Iowa region around Cedar Rapids and Iowa City
Cost/Stipend: Not disclosed; dual high school and college credit is the primary formal benefit
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Thousands of student placements a year across 32 partner school districts
Dates: Summer and school-year options, including a January J-Term; the Summer 2026 portal runs December 15, 2025 through February 6, 2026
Application deadline: Rolling per cycle
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores and juniors in the 7-county region; graduates are not eligible
Kirkwood Community College's Workplace Learning Connection, recently recognized as a top-10 program nationally, places sophomores and juniors into job shadows and internships across diverse local industries including manufacturing, architecture and construction, healthcare, and logistics, earning dual high school and college credit.
Who it's best for: Eastern Iowa sophomores and juniors who want real college credit alongside a workplace experience, and are exploring industries beyond business specifically.
Commonly Asked Questions About these Business Internships
Is a 3.3 GPA good enough for a business internship?
For most of the programs on this page, yes. The majority either set no GPA requirement at all or set it at 3.0, which the Emma Bowen Foundation and the Chicago Summer Business Institute both do. A few are stricter: C Spire Liftoff asks for 3.5 and KU's Summer Venture in Business asks for 3.4. Several of the best-paying options screen on residency and household income rather than grades, so a 3.3 rules you out of far less than you might assume.
How competitive are these, and what should you do if you are rejected?
It varies enormously, and the pattern is not the one most students expect. The nationally recognised names are hard: Genesys Works, KPMG Empower and the Wharton institutes all draw far more applicants than places. The state and regional workforce programs in the last section below are frequently undersubscribed, pay just as well, and are open to anyone in the relevant county. Applying to one national program and nothing else is the single most common mistake. If you are turned down, apply to your own state's pipeline, which usually has a later deadline, and treat the rejection as a timing problem rather than a verdict.
How do you find a business internship if there is nothing near you?
Three routes are location-independent. The fully online university courses, such as Wharton's Financial Decision Making, accept students anywhere. Federal Pathways postings at USDA and the Department of Justice appear nationwide and are open to any eligible US citizen. And remote startup internships such as Ladder Internships place students by interest rather than by postcode. Your own school district's career and technical education office is also worth asking, because several entries on this page are only ever advertised locally.
Do you need a work permit?
In most states, yes, if you are under 18 and taking a paid role. Several programs here say so explicitly, including Air Academy Credit Union, the Capital One Cafe Ambassador role and New Mexico's Summer Enrichment Internship Program. Federal law sets 14 as the minimum age for most non-agricultural work and restricts the hours you can work at 14 and 15, with the Department of Labor's YouthRules pages covering both the federal rules and the state ones, which are often stricter. The permit is usually issued through your school, so start the paperwork before your first day rather than after you are offered the role.